Ki-Adi-Mundi
Ki-Adi-Mundi was a Cerean male Jedi Master who served the New Jedi Order during the Yuuzhan Vong War. As the Yuuzhan Vong threatened the stability of the New Republic, Mundi was among the Jedi who served as General's, commanding the Galactic Marines during the war. Mundi participated in several major battles, including the Battle of Geonosis and the battle of Hypori, where he barely survived a lightsaber duel against Grievous, but tragically lost his son in the process. Biography Early life Ki-Adi-Mundi, a Cerean male, was born in the year 10 BBY on Cerea. He was one of several children in the Mundi family but was the only boy among his siblings and one of the few males in his home village, as the birth rate for male Cereans to females was twenty-to-one. Among his siblings was an older sister, Drue. His father, Snorri, was a farmer and, for the first fifteen years of his life, Mundi lived on the family farm, where his father and mother, Drahoslava, were content to raise him in a secluded lifestyle typical of Cereans, who largely shunned technology and lived in isolation from the rest of the Galaxy. As a youth, Mundi was drawn to offworlder technology, but his father warned him embracing it would come at too high a price, something that Mundi did not understand as a young child. Throughout his early childhood, Mundi demonstrated great skill with the Force and was able to levitate items and sense danger, although his abilities were unstable due to lack of proper training. On at least one occasion, an item Mundi lifted with the Force exploded in mid-air due to this instability. Mundi's home village was periodically attacked and pillaged by a gang of raiders led by Bin-Garda-Zon. During these raids, Zon repeatedly broke into the Mundi household, smashed their belongings and demanded financial tributes from them, which the family always paid to avoid problems. Mundi could sense Zon's approach prior to these attacks, and his family would hide Mundi in concealed floor compartment before Zon arrived because the raiders would kidnap male children due to the species' low birth rate. Despite the family's seclusion, rumors of Mundi's abilities with the Force began to spread even outside of Cerea. In 5 ABY, when Mundi was fourteen years old, a Jedi Knight of the Altisian Jedi named An'ya Kuro, better known simply as the Dark Woman, traveled to Cerea after hearing stories about the child. When Kuro arrived in her starship, which Mundi called the "metal beast," Mundi's siblings fled at the sight of the unfamiliar technology, but Mundi stood his ground and insisted he was not afraid. When Kuro descended from the craft, Mundi immediately sensed she had come for him, even before she identified herself. Once she explained her motives to his family, Mundi demonstrated his Force abilities for Kuro by levitating items and describing his sensory abilities. After Kuro announced her desire to take Mundi to train him in the ways of the Force, Mundi's father asked whether he simply be taught in his home village or at the Cerean capital of Tecave City. When Kuro said this was impossible due to the commitment required by the Jedi lifestyle, Mundi's father angrily refused to allow him to leave. During this conversation, however, Mundi sensed that Zon's raiders were approaching the village and that an attack was imminent. As Mundi and his sister Droe were hidden away, Kuro volunteered to defend the village against the raiders, but Mundi's father urged against it because he believed the gang would only act more aggressively toward them later, once Kuro had departed. Mundi listened as Zon smashed the door in, physically beat his father and stole several of their belongings, although they did not find Mundi himself. Once Zon and his men had departed, Mundi's father lifted him out of the hidden compartment, tearfully wished him goodbye and told Kuro she could take him with her. He believed Cerea needed a Jedi protector of their own or the attacks from raiders like Zon would never stop. An emotional Mundi promised his father he would work hard in his training, become as powerful and strong as possible, and then come back to Cerea to protect his family and defeat Zon's men. Jedi training Kuro sensed he had the potential to be a great apprentice, and , for the next 5 years, Mundi learned the ways of the Force under Kuro's tutelage. Mundi traveled to many different planets as part of his Jedi training, and eventually built his own lightsaber, which had a purple blade. Around 11 ABY, Kuro and Mundi traveled to Yavin 4, the headquarters of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order, with plans of meeting with Skywalker and his fledgling Jedi. Kuro would have liked to have trained Mundi for a longer period of time, but the decision was made for Luke Skywalker to be assigned to teach Mundi for the rest of his training. Nevertheless, Mundi often referred to Kuro as "First Teacher" even amongst others in the New Jedi Order and remained immensely grateful to her for the rest of his life. While many regarded Kuro with suspicion for her unorthodox and aggressive Jedi training techniques, Mundi regularly defended her and her methods, and refused to refer to her by the name Dark Woman as others called her. Over the next year learning at the Jedi Praxeum, Mundi's ability with the Force proved strong and his ability with the lightsaber exceptional; he had no difficulty deflecting shots from multiple remotes during training sessions. However, Mundi also showed occasional signs of arrogance and willfulness during his training, which Skywalker sought to counter by teaching him humility. During one session, when Mundi fought off remotes, Jedi Frederick Kenobi warned him to watch his "blind spot" and, when Mundi insisted he had no blind spot, Kenobi tripped him. Throughout his training, Mundi had always made clear his intention to one day return to Cerea and free his family from the persecution of the criminal raiders there. Although Skywalker did not sense anger or fear in his apprentice, he was concerned Mundi's motivations were based on a desire for vengeance, which could often lead to the dark side of the Force. Mundi insisted this was not the case and that he was driven by the desire for justice, not revenge. Nevertheless, Mundi admitted he hated Bin-Garda-Zon for what he had done to his family, and Skywalker urged him to avoid feelings of hatred and to instead pity Zon, who Skywalker said had already lost his own personal battle with the dark side. Return to Cerea Following his Knighting ceremony, Mundi returned to Cerea at age 21 with the intention of following through on his promise to protect his family from the raider gang. Upon arriving home, Mundi was greeted with love and excitement from his family, who he entertained with tales of his Jedi training and experiences on other worlds. Later, his father informed him the village was still persecuted by the raiders, although Zon himself no longer participated in the raids. Although the raider base was rumored to be very dangerous, Mundi insisted he did not require any additional assistance from the villagers and would confront Zon and his men himself. Mundi rode an Aryx at night to Zon's camp in the hills outside the village, where he disguised himself as a drifter until reaching the inside of the camp. Upon arriving, Mundi revealed his identity and announced his intention to challenge Zon, hoping eliminating the leader would disorganize the rest of the gang and allow the local authorities to deal with the remnants. Mundi overconfidently boasted he could beat the man with both hands tied behind his back. Mundi was taken to the gang's new leader, Bin-Garda-Zon's daughter, Jlynn, who had previously defeated her father in combat to take control of the raiders. Treating Mundi's boast literally, she ordered her guards to tie his hands behind his back, then engaged Mundi in combat with her spear. Taken aback by how quickly his plan fell apart, and not yet strong enough in the Force to win under such circumstances, Mundi was quickly defeated and rendered unconscious. Mundi later awakened tied to a wooden post inside a tent, where an older and weaker Zon threatened him with a vibroknife. Zon intended to slit Mundi's throat, then use that accomplishment to attempt to regain power from his daughter. However, Mundi used the Force to loosen the ropes binding his wrists, then subdued both Zon and the guards who responded to the commotion. Upon exiting the tent he was confronted by the gang leader, who this time said she would battle him to the death. Mundi offered her the chance to surrender, but she instead attacked. More cautious this time and no longer restrained, Mundi easily disarmed her and won the fight, although he did not kill her. Surrounded by dozens of her fellow raiders, Mundi knew he could not defeat them all based on sheer numbers, so he feigned bravado and ordered them all to disband and stop pillaging the villagers, or else they would have to face him. This threat largely worked and the gang began to dissipate except for Zon, who hurled a vibroblade at Mundi with the hopes of winning his command back. Mundi used the Force to easily push the blade aside, but left Zon alive, recognizing that leaving the former gang leader powerless and inconsequential was a fate worse than death for Zon. The victorious Mundi then returned to his family. Establishing home and family As the planet's Jedi Watchman, Mundi lived on Cerea and quickly cultivated a deep love and appreciation for his home world, and gained a great deal of respect among the Cerean community. Despite having been drawn to off-worlder technology in his youth, Mundi came to develop a very different perspective in his adulthood, as did many other Cereans his age. Like his father before him, Mundi now believed Cereans should take pride in their technologically-primitive culture and resist opening itself too much to outside worlds that would seek to change and modernize their planet, which he felt could lead to unexpected and disastrous consequences. As a Jedi Watchman, Mundi developed a network of contacts who provided him information about the activities on and around Cerea, including the Ortolan Ydde, who outwardly claimed to only care about the money Mundi gave him, but secretly admired the Jedi Knight. Due to the Cerean's social customs and low birth rate for males, Mundi practiced polygamy due to the 1-to-20 male-to-female ratio among his species. Mundi first married Shea, his bond-wife, and later married four honor-wives, including Mawin. Shea remained Mundi's closest and most trusted wife, and he felt he could hide nothing from her, so much so that Mundi suspected she had some of the Force within her. Mundi had seven daughters with his wives, none of whom were born by Shea, which bitterly disappointed her. Mundi desperately wanted a boy, but tried to conceal his disappointment from his wives; he avoided having children with Shea because he did not believe he could hide his feelings from her. Mundi and his family lived in a large house not far from Concave City. The polygamist nature of Mundi's family inevitably led to tension and arguments among his wives. The honor-wives occasionally envied Shea's status as the bond-wife and, in turn, Shea was often jealous of them because she had never bore any children. Mundi often had trouble understanding his wives' emotions and responding accordingly, which would upset them further. Among Mundi's daughters was Sylvn, who he had with Mawin. Sylvn demonstrated rebellious tendencies and anger issues as early as age six, when she regularly drew pictures of angry faces. Although this concerned Mawin, Mundi assured her it was normal youthful behavior and nothing to be worried about. Sylvn's rebellious tendencies continued into her teenage years, when she began spending time with the dissident Maj-Odo-Nomor and his swoop gang, the Techrats, but Mundi nevertheless felt she was a good girl and that her actions were not a source of concern. Conflict on Cerea Despite his allegiance to the New Jedi Order, Mundi actively lobbied for Cerea to reject proposals to join the Republic, in doing so, encouraging his species to maintain their neutrality. In 24 ABY, Silais, a Twi'lek representative, encouraged the Council of Elders to join the New Republic and called Cerea a backward world due to its lack of technology. In response to these remarks, Mundi spoke passionately in defense of the planet, calling Cerea's lack of technology as a virtue rather than a detriment. He argued giving greater power to off-worlder influences would make the planet as unpleasant and corrupt as the Outsider Citadel cities. The Elders were so moved by Mundi's speech that they rejected Silais' request without even taking the matter to a vote, which prompted the Twi'lek to view Mundi as an enemy. Shortly after this speech, a distraught Mawin informed Mundi that Sylvn had run away with Maj-Odo-Nomor, and Mundi promised to find her and bring her home. He found both Sylvn and Nomor at a Pro-Tech Movement rally, where New Republic diplomat Bron was encouraging an agitated crowd of young Cereans to reject their elders advice and embrace off-worlder technology. Emboldened by his earlier speech before the Council of Elders, Mundi attempted to sway the crowd against Bron's way of thinking, but succeeded only in antagonizing them further. Too late, Mundi realized Bron tricked him into addressing the crowd because Bron knew it would anger them and make Bron himself appear accepting of outsider opinions. Incensed by Mundi's words, Nomor encouraged the crowd to physically remove Mundi from the rally. They picked him up and began carrying him, but Mundi resisted fighting back because he felt they were only children and presented no real danger. Distracted while calling out for his daughter, Nomor grabbed Mundi's lightsaber, but accidentally activated it and killed a Cerean bystander. Nomor and Sylvn fled and the confused crowd mistakenly believed Mundi killed the bystander himself, much to Bron's delight. Although the crowd called on Mundi to be charged with murder, surveillance footage and an examination on the skin cells on Mundi's lightsaber proved that Nomor was responsible for the death. Nevertheless, Bron used the incident to spread rumors and create a sense of mistrust about Mundi and the Council of Elders. The elders allowed Mundi to go free and bring Nomor and his accomplices to justice, which they indicated included Sylvn. They did not, return Mundi's lightsaber, however, because they claimed it was required for evidence. Mundi immediately returned home, where he found four members of the Techrats gang—Skeel, Kordren, Twin and Sylvn herself—had broken into his house and stolen his groceries. Mundi suspected they had stolen the food because they were harboring Nomor, and he traveled via Aryx to the Outsider Citadel to find him. There he sought his source Ydde, but learned he had gone into hiding and was missing for the last two days. Ydde's wife told Mundi he had was afraid for his life after overhearing the smuggler Phylus Mon speaking to somebody else about a shipment. Believing the shipment to be related to the Swoops, Mundi found Ydde in a nearby cantina, but Ydde refused to talk to him despite offers of money and stormed off. Due to the rumors Bron had spread about Mundi, most of the Outsider Citadel citizens distrusted Mundi. A group of alien outsiders—led by a Devaronian who previously lost half of his left horn in a fight with Mundi—attacked the Cerean, overconfident because he lacked a lightsaber. Mundi easily fended them off with hand-to-hand combat, but when the attackers continued to heavily outnumber him, he summoned his Aryx, who rushed into the fray and helped Mundi defeat them. Citadel security forces arrived after the scene ended, which meant Mundi had to face another inquiry before the Elders the next day. Not far away, Mundi discovered the dead body of Ydde, who had been shot to death at close range by what a Mundi determined was likely a skilled assassin. The guilt-stricken Jedi blamed himself for Ydde's death. During the inquiry the next day, Elder Nar-Somo-Dali, a friend of Mundi, insisted the search for Nomor was growing out of control and considered relieving Mundi of the duty due to his personal involvement because of his daughter. Dali refused to return Mundi's lightsaber and explained the Council was proceeding with caution because some members of the public saw the pursuit of Nomor as prosecution for his Pro-Tech beliefs, but Mundi said the Council should instead be focused on doing the right thing. After using a Jedi mind trick on a Gran prisoner with knowledge of Ephant Mon's activities, Mundi learned where the smuggler was hiding Nomor, but they were gone before Mundi arrived. He discovered a sketch of an angry face that Sylvn used to draw when she was young, and felt despair over never recognizing how troubled she was. Distracted, he nearly failed to detect an attack by FLTCH R-1, a huge mercenary droid left behind by Mon to attack the Jedi. In his haste to depart, however, Mon failed to calibrate the droid's target system, so Mundi was able to dodge it's attacks and escape. As he was fleeing, Mundi ran into a Cerean messenger sent by Nar-Somo-Dali. The Jedi directed the messenger into the sewers with him and drew FLTCH R-1's fire away from the boy, but was struck and injured by one of the droid's blasts and nearly crushed by falling debris. The messenger ran to assist him and delivered Dali's message by returning Mundi's lightsaber and explaining that Dali had taken to heart Mundi's earlier statement about doing the right thing. The now-armed Mundi disabled the approaching FLTCH R-1 with one swoop of his lightsaber, then collapsed. The messenger took the unconscious Mundi back to Dali, who placed Mundi into a bacta tank to treat his injuries. Upon learning that Mon had fled the planet with Nomor and Sylvn, Dali obtained permission from the Jedi Council to extend Mundi's jurisdiction, freeing the Jedi to pursue Nomor anywhere in the galaxy. These efforts furthered Bron's arguments that the Cerean search for Nomor was personal and unjust, as many Cereans felt the pursuit should be dropped now that he was off the planet.Star Wars 4: Prelude to Rebellion, Part 4 Rescuing Mundi's daughter Dali received word that Mon's ship was located in orbit around the planet Tatooine, but that it was infested with 2,000 dangerous divvik pupae ready to hatch. When communication with the ship failed, Dali freed Mundi from the bacta tank early so he could continue his pursuit right away, even though the Jedi was still not fully recovered. Silais provided Mundi with a starship and a crew of marginally-effective droid prototypes from a bankrupt manufacturer, which Silais insisted were the best he could provide on short notice. They included maintenance droid J1M, navigator B3NK, medical droid 2-ROB and pilot FLTCH R-1, who had been reprogrammed since previously attacking Mundi. After a 10-hour flight, the crew arrived at Tatooine, where it was impossible for B3NK to detect whether Sylvn was alive because the thousands of divviks aboard Mon's ship made it impossible to separate lifeforms. Mundi detected Mon's presence aboard the ship and, despite the mortal danger presented by the divviks, donned a spacesuit and boarded the craft. Aware there were too many divviks to fight single-handedly, Mundi attempted to move quickly through them and fought his way through the ship. Mundi used the Force to navigate himself to an escape pod where Mon, Sylvn, Nomor and Twin were hidden inside. Mundi offered to bring them back to his ship, but Mon instead explained the pod's electrical circuit was damaged and the outside hatch could only be opened manually from outside the pod. Mon ordered Mundi to open the hatch, which could fatally expose Mundi to the vacuum of space, or else Mon would manually eject the pod himself and kill all the occupants, including Mundi's daughter. When Nomor tried to resist Mon, the smuggler shot him to death. Mundi recognized Mon intended to follow through with this threat and agreed, but first ordered FLTCH R-1 to get a reading on both the escape pod and Mundi himself. After opening the hatch and allowing the pod to eject, Mundi leapt through the airlock door and toward his own ship, where the robot crew quickly picked him up and safely brought him aboard. Mundi pursued the escape pod into Tatooine's atmosphere, where they initially met resistance from Trade Federation ships, despite the fact that Tatooine was outside the Trade Federation's jurisdiction. Mundi used the Force to trick the pilots into abandoning their pursuit, then landed the ship on Tatooine and tracked the pod, but found it empty besides Nomor's body. The crew followed the trail until it was lost in an ion storm, prompting the Jedi to become distraught over the thought of losing his daughter, and regret having previously desired a son rather than appreciate his own daughters. Upon learning Sylvn was taken to a palace owned by a Yahk-Tosh crime lord named Boorka, Mundi believed his daughter was being held as bait in a trap meant for the Jedi himself. Mundi secretly ordered J1M to enter the cargo bay, where he planned to drop the droid along with non-essential material from the ship. Mundi hoped Boorka would believe unloading the cargo was an attempt by Mundi to simulate damage to his own ship, but in fact, Mundi planned to have J1M infiltrate Boorka's shuttle and download his cargo manifest. Mundi then ordered his crew to prepare for an air battle and piloted the ship toward the citadel, where they were pursued by several atmospheric flyers. Mundi recognized they depended upon air circulation to fly, so he flew his ship close to the planet's surface to create a sandstorm, clogging their air intakes and destroying several of the ships. He then dropped his cargo, including J1M, and Boorka fell for the ruse and launched a shuttle to collect the debris. Upon arriving at the palace, Mundi found Sylvn and Twin surrounded by guards and chained to an ion attractor atop of a tower during an ion storm, where they were at risk of becoming electrocuted by bursts of plasma. Mundi had the robot crew take over piloting, then dropped onto the tower along with FLTCH R-1 to assist the girls. Mundi blocked a plasma blast with his lightsaber just as it was about to strike the ion attractor, then killed the guards while FLTCH R-1 untied Sylvn and Twin. After embracing his daughter, the four returned to the starcraft and exited the system just as Boorka's shuttle was releasing its garbage, including J1M. Mundi picked up the droid, who had successfully downloaded the cargo manifest, revealing the Trade Federation had obtained several illegal items from Boorka, violating the New Republic's rules of engagement. Mundi decided not to continue pursuing Phylus Mon and instead left Tatooine and dispatched the Trade Federation information to Coruscant. After returning to Cerea, testimony from Sylvn and Twin dispelled the public's suspicions about the pursuit against Mundi and calmed the hysteria previously caused by Bron's rumors. Around this time, Mundi sensed a disturbance in the Force among the New Republic, but it was too diffuse for him to determine a specific cause. Dali suggested he spend as much time with his family as possible before New Jedi Order business would force him away from Cerea. With his outlook on family changed by Sylvn's recent abduction, Mundi finally got Shea pregnant and this time insisted he did not care whether it would be a boy or a girl. Upon learning of Mundi's recent actions, Luke Skywalker became impressed that the Cerean was able to carry out his mission and obtain helpful information about the Trade Federation even while his own daughter's life was at risk. Skywalker formally recommended that Mundi be selected for the role of Jedi Ambassador. Mundi continued to serve as the Jedi Watchman for the Cerean sector while serving as a Jedi Ambassador, and although he now began spending more time on Coruscant and less on Cerea, he often missed his home world and felt uncomfortable among the modern cities and excessive technology of Coruscant. Yuuzhan Vong War Personality and traits Ki-Adi-Mundi was extremely wise and stoic, and as a Jedi he was well known for his strong judgment, his practical thinking, and his courage. Like all Cereans, his binary brain made him extremely logical and insightful and he was a skilled tactician and diplomat. Mundi had great empathy for other living beings, particularly his fellow Jedi. As a Jedi Master, Mundi had no fear of death, and believed that to die simply meant becoming one with the the Force. During his meditations in the Yuuzhan Vong War, he preferred to have drops of water falling on his head because each drop reminded him of a Jedi who fell in battle. Mundi believed the greatest honor was to sacrifice oneself for others and for a greater cause. During his time as a General during the war, Mundi believed that as a leader, he should not only give orders but personally lead his forces into battle. Mundi demonstrated a strong ability to rally his troops and encourage their trust in the Force in the face of overwhelming odds. Mundi deeply cared for his family, as evidenced when he fell into despair over the safety of his Sylvn when she was kidnapped. This was particularly evident when, after some of his family were killed during the Great War, Mundi was unable to remain focused on his Jedi service and overcome his grief for some time. He further showed a strong desire to have a son in addition to his daughters. Despite his love for his family, however, Mundi often felt awkward when dealing with problems involving his family and his work. Mundi harbored a deep love of his home world of Cerea, and felt the Cereans were in perfect harmony with nature. Like many other Cereans of his generation, Mundi was suspicious and distrustful of technology and preferred that his home planet remain technologically primitive and relatively isolated from the rest of the galaxy. Although drawn to off-worlder technology during his youth, Mundi in his adulthood came to respect what his Cerean ancestors had built, such as the planetary capital, Tecave City. He also came to look upon the Outsider Citadels, more modern cities built by off-worlders, with disgust and contempt. Mundi spoke so passionately about this subject that, when arguing against Silais offer to join the New Republic, he immediately persuaded the Council of Elders to reject the proposal after a single speech. Mundi did not completely oppose the use of all technology, but felt that it should be used in moderation and not simply for the sake of having it. Although he was able to find beauty in other worlds, Mundi felt uncomfortable on technologically-advanced planets when he left Cerea, particularly on the cities of the capital planet Coruscant, and feared Cerea would one day become like them. Despite his wisdom and control of emotions, Mundi could occasionally fall victim to his own pride, as when, after successfully arguing against Silais's offer to join the Republic, Mundi believed himself invincible and tried to sway the minds of a youthful Pro-Tech rally, inadvertently making them angrier. Mundi demonstrated more of these prideful emotions during his younger years. When encouraged by Frederick Kenobi during a training session to watch his blind spot in combat, Mundi boasted that he did not have a blind spot. Similarly, when he first confronted the raiders on his home world, Mundi believed he was too strong for the enemy to possibly defeat him, which nearly cost him the battle. Mundi was also known to be vain when it came to his appearance, often dying his facial hair after it began to gray. Additionally, despite his intelligence, Mundi did make major lapses in judgment from time to time. Appearances Notes and references Category:Males Category:Force-sensitives Category:Jedi Masters of the New Jedi Order Category:Inhabitants of Coruscant Category:Inhabitants of Cerea Category:Cereans Category:Farmers